Rewards despite the coolScott Lyons | First Published: June 2011

Cool westerly wind mark the normal start to a day on Botany Bay at this time of the year but the fishing can be quite good.

I have always been fond of fishing over the Winter months. Yes, it’s cool and you need to rug up but the days can be exceptional and the catch at the end of the day quite rewarding.

Sydney in the Winter can mean light winds and no rain for weeks so whether you fish in the Bay or off shore, you will find great conditions and good action right through Winter.

Trolling should produce plenty of tailor and salmon. Because they feed on larger baitfish throughout the cool months you won’t see surface action very often but the fish will still be there.

For best results, work larger lures along structure like The Drums in the middle of the Bay the along the edges of the airport runways. You can troll past the many channel markers in the Bay and the rocky shoreline along either side of the Bay entrance will produce well most days.

But by far my most productive method in Winter is to hit deep water in the Bay or offshore, anchor up and lay out a good berley trail to get the fish on the chew.

Trevally, tailor, bream and the odd snapper and sweep will be the main species you will catch.

The berley is quite simple, just chook pellets and chopped pilchards and we use pilchard cubes and peeled prawns as bait, fished as light as possible to allow the bait to drift along with the berley.

The Shimano Baitrunners are by far the best reels to use for this style of fishing. I have used the new 4000B for the past eight months and can’t fault it.

Drifting wide from the Bay in 45m to 60m is a sure bet for a great feed of flathead, which school at this time of year and if you move around and drift in different areas fishing the bottom you will do well.

Tough baits are best, like squid, bonito strips and mullet strips. Flathead aren’t too fussy so this is a good-back up if the weather suits to head wide of the Bay. Check out my weekly reports on www.fishingsydney.com.au.

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Trolling the coast early morning, you’re still a chance of hooking a bonito.

Sand flathead are a sure bet over the cooler months and can be found in numbers in 45m to 60m.